


Peace, Sunshine, Love

by ishtarelisheba



Series: Better to Face the Bullets 'verse [14]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ish promptathon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 17:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15466428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishtarelisheba/pseuds/ishtarelisheba
Summary: Belle and Rummond have a small garden party with the Nolans and the Hargreaves, little ones included. While watching the children, she finds herself more lost in thought than in conversation.





	Peace, Sunshine, Love

**Author's Note:**

> [Prompts - _ladysibyl said: One more BtFtB prompt: Wee Mad Sheep Boys friendship: Neal, Emma, and Grace all play together while their parents discuss Adult Things like the hospital and whatever war news is going around and should Rummond and Belle have a small party to welcome Meg and Ercole?_  
>  ladysibyl said: I know I keep obsessing about these kids, but I can’t get it out of my head that BtFtB!Neal, Emma, and Grace all have a picnic and look around Neal’s garden.  
> ladysibyl said: 3) So Neal’s offered Emma his whole toffee apple. Does Emma return the favor?]

Dove brought David and Mary Margaret through to the back garden, giving them a bit of an announcement that was only necessary by custom, as Emma had come running ahead on her own a few moments before. The wee blonde streak had announced herself with a rather loud, “Hi, I’m here!” and ran out into the grass to join Neal and Grace.

An intimate garden party while the middays were still warm enough for it was just the thing for all of them, Belle believed. Rummond could do with the company of David and Jefferson, and Neal needed a visit with his favorite friends. Neither of the girls attended school with him - Emma was just a bit young yet, and Grace went to another. And Rummond was not yet in the habit of seeking companionship other than her own when left to his own devices. Sometimes it was far easier to bring the mountain to Muhammad.

The children had their own picnic while she and her husband entertained the adults. They sat around a glass garden table situated on the patio, its top laden with enough tea and finger foods to founder an elephant. Mary Margaret was particularly eating well these days, though she hadn’t yet made it known why. Considering that her fellow nurse might be entertaining similar plans to her own in such a situation kept Belle from presuming to offer congratulations just yet. 

Jefferson and David discussed aeroplanes and repair work with Rummond, and Belle did her best to pay attention to Alice and Mary Margaret’s conversation on more fashions beginning to eke in from America. In truth, she found herself distracted by the children’s play. Watching as Neal showed Emma and Grace around to his favorite spots in the garden, she couldn’t help being at _bit_ envious of Mary Margaret’s condition. It wasn’t something that she should be hurrying for quite a few reasons, she supposed, but she found herself looking in the long bathroom mirror while pulling her clothes away from her body far more often than she likely should. 

“Everything was ticking along well at the hospital when you returned from holiday, Belle?” Mary Margaret asked between bites of angel cake. 

Only hearing her name brought her attention to the fact she’d been addressed. It took her a half second longer to go back and catch the question itself. “Oh! Yes, shipshape! Nurse Lind did an exemplary job.”

“Well, it was pleasant, at least,” Mary Margaret went on. “I did worry that she might take it out on some of us, after the way Nurse Mills treated her. She was kind as could be, though.”

“I knew she would be. I’ve heard from a few nurses how well it went,” Belle replied. 

She glanced back at the children. Neal and Emma seemed to be having words over tree climbing, and Grace stood back at a loss for words at their daring. Apparently Emma won out, as Neal dropped to his hands and knees in the grass to give her a step up for grabbing onto the lowest limb.

“Have you met the Alcaeuses?” Alice asked as she added a lump of sugar to a fresh cup of tea. “Mrs. Alcaeus came by last week to have her daughters measured for new dresses, and I noticed the address she gave was just around here.”

Belle nodded. “They were at the fundraiser earlier this month. I _was_ thinking perhaps- Rummond?”

“Hm?” Her husband looked to her, mid-sip from his cup.

She smiled at his attentive expression. “I was thinking perhaps we might have a house party to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Alcaeus to the area. Something quite small,” she assured him. “Since their children will be attending school with Neal.”

“That sounds fine, love,” Rummond agreed. “A good idea.”

She thought it was some testament to how well he did today that he didn’t pull a face at the concept of a party in their home. She gave his knee a pat beneath the table. 

There was a squeal followed by a round of giggles, and the entire table looked over to see Emma giving a lizard into Neal’s hands. Grace covered her mouth, but she leaned close to look, anyway. He plopped down on the ground, holding it carefully so that they could pet the little creature without it hopping down and away.

Belle sighed, feeling more contentment than she thought she ever had. There were still things she wanted very much. More school, more family. The old fear that she might have to give up one for the other either way no longer worried her. 

Reaching toward her husband without looking, she felt his hand slip into her own, wrapping warm and secure around it. Everything was well within her grasp.

**Author's Note:**

> (Set near the end of September 1920, a few weeks after Rummond and Belle's honeymoon.)


End file.
